


Food Heals All Wounds

by wolfdogmcu



Series: Stucky [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bonding, Dinner, Dinner Date, Featuring Jarvis the Cat!, Fluff, Friendship, IronStrange, Just boyfriends getting along with boyfriends, M/M, MCU set mostly, Post Endgame in a happy alternate universe, Steve didn't do that thing I hate, Stucky - Freeform, double dates, happy stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:02:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22041511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfdogmcu/pseuds/wolfdogmcu
Summary: Things between Tony and Steve remained rocky for a while after the conflict regarding the Sokovia Accords. In a professional context, they'd healed their wounds enough to work together. But, softened by his relationship with Stephen, Tony decides to try and fix up his friendship with the former Captain America.What better way to do that than inviting him on a double date?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Stucky [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1566961
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46





	Food Heals All Wounds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jonghyunsmoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jonghyunsmoon/gifts).



Tonight would be an interesting night. The Italian place the two would be dining in was one of Tony’s favourites, to the point that he had once publicly endorsed the brand. On date nights, he had often brought Stephen here, meaning this place now had a rather sentimental value. They had their first date here. If the sorcerer was away and Tony felt particularly lonely, he would come here for lunch, sitting in that booth they shared together. 

Naturally, his fond connection to this restaurant was why he chose it for tonight. Even if things went sour here, Tony could at least enjoy the good food and happy memories. Plus, his trust in Stephen ran deep these days; he felt better just having him there. As much as he enjoyed the window booth he usually inhabited, the quiet of the corner would be best. Settling in, a server brought the bread, and took their wine orders.

“You good sitting here, Dumbledore?”    
Stephen chuckled warmly, taking a roll from the basket to butter, “This is fine, yes. How are you feeling?”

Tony swallowed hard, bouncing his leg beneath the table. It pained him to admit -- even to himself -- that he was incredibly nervous. His stomach was in knots. The pair had agreed to a ‘double date’ with Steve and Bucky. On the surface, it sounded harmless enough, but this would be their first real, non-work based interaction together. The Iron Man had come to get along with Captain America once again, and they could function well together when it came to hero business, but they didn’t talk much outside of that. 

He wouldn’t have balked at having to just see him for five minutes while out and about. Hell, even if they just grabbed one cup of coffee, that would have been fine. It was Tony who suggested this date, and he hated himself for it - instinctively catastrophizing the situation. Stephen caught on to his nerves, and carefully lay a shaky hand over the back of one of his. Tony instantly turned his palm to hold his hand. 

Until the other two arrived, Stephen decided to attempt to redirect his boyfriend’s thoughts to something more pleasant.   
“Do you think we could take anything home for Jarvis?”   
Tony tilted his head with a smirk, “You’ve grown so soft for him, but I’d imagine so. If anything, I flash the Stark card, and I ask for some of their leftover chicken. Why are you pulling that face?”   
The face mentioned sported a look of embarrassed humour, “I promised him I would bring him a treat.”

It took a lot for Tony to restrain the volume of his laugh. When they first brought Jarvis in, he had his concerns that the two wouldn’t get along. That would be terrible; he would need a new boyfriend. But the exact opposite had happened. Stephen would encourage the little black and white cat to spend as much time with him as he could (though it was a struggle to pry him from Tony). The cat slept with them in the bed, and Mr. Strange even let him up on the counter while he made his morning coffee. 

Cat talk was cut short when the two ‘oldies’ made their way through the door. While they scanned the room for the pair, Stephen realised something.   
“I don’t think I’ve spoken to Bucky before. What is he like? Do I need to avoid anything?”   
“He’s alright now, since Shuri factory reset him. If I remember correctly, he’s a little shy, so don’t push him too much. He’s pretty nice these days though.”   
Tony stifled ending that with  _ ‘killing my parents aside’ _ .

Having spied the two in the booth, Steve lead his boyfriend over to join them. He waved as he approached, making Tony swallow a laugh. If Peter were here, he’d have yelled ‘boomer’ at him. Standing to greet them, the sorcerer and inventor offered out handshakes. The blonde comfortably did as expected, but Bucky visibly hesitated. Both received very slight grips from him; Stephen appreciated it. However, it looked like he was uncomfortable being here.

“You’ve met Steve before, right?” Tony gestured to the man in question.   
Stephen nodded, “More or less.”   
“We’ve talked a couple times, but there wasn’t much time for making friends back then.”   
The Captain slid his hand into Bucky’s as the attention turned to him; he knew he was still finding his feet in terms of socialising.   
“That’s Bucky, he’s nice. A bit of a history between us, but that’s all in the past.”   
“Redundant. All history is in the past, that’s what it is,” Stephen couldn’t help it.    
“Shut up you,” He chuckled. 

The banter was evidently amusing to their company, as the blonde was chuckling, and Bucky wore a smirk.   
“Thank you, though, both of you - for this. Especially you Tony, I didn’t expect the offer at all.”   
“Yeah, well, I didn’t see the point in avoiding you forever. Things have changed, you know? No need for conflict.”    
It looked like Steve was happy to hear that, “I was thinking the same. So, what are you both up to now? You’re looking good.”

“Honestly? Feeling good. For maybe the first time, I actually feel pretty good. Sure, bad days happen, but things are going well. We have a nice little place, good garage for working on things, and Stephen’s got space for relics and books.”   
“That sounds wonderful.”    
“Plus, more importantly than all that bullshit, we have a cat!”

Up until this point, Bucky had been quiet and distracted. The moment the word ‘cat’ was involved in the conversation, his head lifted to look at Tony.   
“What’s the cat’s name?”   
“He’s called Jarvis. Black and white tuxedo cat. Very handsome, maybe the best cat in the world? Who knows. Wait, no, I do. I know.”   
Quietly, Bucky asserted, “It’s him…”   
Stephen pawed in his pocket, unlocking his phone to show Bucky a picture.    
“He’s gorgeous…” 

“Where’d he come from?”    
“Just started following me - don’t know what his life was before, but he clearly knew I could give him better.”    
Bucky leaned forward on his hand, looking over the cat a little more, “He’s got a tom cat nose.”   
“He’s getting the snip soon, bless him.” 

Cat conversation died down as the new arrivals got to order drinks. Steve got a pint of lager, and his partner just got a Pepsi. The Wolf and alcohol didn’t mix. While the blonde worked on slicing and buttering a roll each, Stephen decided to ask some questions.   
“What are you two up to? Now you aren’t playing Captain America anymore, aren’t you bored?”   
Setting down Bucky’s roll, he chuckled, “Honestly? No. I’m happy being retired, and me and Buck are just enjoying everything we can.” 

Bucky placed a hand on Steve’s wrist, and mumbled something to him.   
“It’s not polite to whisper in company, you know that, right?” Tony interjected.   
“Well… Buck, if you want to tell them, I don’t mind.”    
The cryptic nature of the discussion was frustrating to Iron Man. He tapped his fingers impatiently.   
“We do have something coming up.”

His gaze flit to Steve, who moved to hold his hand, squeezing it reassuringly.   
“We’re getting married.”   
The two across the table were briefly stunned, before offering surprised congratulations. Bucky was incredibly flustered by it all, though his fiancé seemed the same way.    
“Stephen, you need to hurry up with that. Make a move.”    
They all caught a laugh.   
“Someday soon, Tony. Let’s not steal their thunder.”   
“But I _ love _ doing that.” 

Looking over the menu, getting ready to flag the waiter down, they all decided on some food. Poor Bucky, he was a little confused with some of the names, as they were in small font and written in Italian. Tony started listing off different dishes that he liked here, suggesting specifically the arrabiata, risotto, and the chicken picatta. Stephen, however, interjected with the suggestion of the cannelloni. 

“Look at you, Merlin, getting involved in all this.”   
The Sorcerer Supreme blushed, shaking his head, “It’s a good dish. But I will be getting the chicken piccata - I need to bring some scraps back for Jarvis.”   
“He’s getting damn spoiled,” Tony chuckled warmly, “But I’ll be damned if I’m not getting some chicken pasta to bring him some back. I have to get the alfredo one - he loves a cream sauce.” 

Everyone put in their orders, with Bucky taking Stephen’s suggestion. It seemed like, out of everyone here, Bucky saw the mystic as having a great deal of knowledge. Steve settled on arrabiata, but it seemed he did so to show he was willing to take suggestions from Tony. Regardless, it was appreciated. It was a meal for the man’s ego. 

An issue did crop up somewhat when the food was brought. Not used to going out to eat with more people than just Tony, Strange was suddenly aware that other people would notice his tremors. He could usually eat alright with them, more used to it now, but in lifting cutlery, it was very evident. Naturally, he felt a swell of self consciousness. Tony rubbed the back of his arm, catching on to how he was feeling.

However, he wasn’t the only one with some physical impairment around the cutlery. It seemed, due to the construction and material of his left arm, Bucky couldn’t actually  _ grip  _ the cutlery. Had they been at home, he would have either remembered the textured glove that meant metal didn’t just slip off of it, or gotten Steve to cut up the food. Cannelloni wasn’t an easy meal to eat without cutting it up, as you couldn’t lift the pasta tubes. Three times he dropped the knife before he gave up on it, and chose to just use his fork to hopefully press it apart.

During this, he did spot Stephen’s shaky hands. That was what encouraged him to just use the one hand with the fork; there was a sense of solidarity. It reflected in the other, as he seemed to settle, and neither of their partners made much of a deal out of it. They did, however, give each other a happy nod, smiling out of relief their boyfriends weren’t so embarrassed about this. 

This was pleasant. The whole meal - from the food to their interactions - went incredibly well. For someone who thought this would be a total shitshow, Tony was pleasantly surprised. It was agreed they wouldn’t be staying for dessert - Stephen didn’t like leaving Jarvis for too long, and as Steve had predicted before they left, Bucky was getting incredibly restless. He was gripping the blonde’s hand so hard it was hurting him. 

The tension was alleviated briefly, but extended in a slightly different way. When they were given the bill, both Tony and Steve reached for their wallets.    
“Look, I arranged this, I’ll pay,” Mr. Stark asserted.    
Of course, the Super Soldier did not relent, opening his wallet, “Yeah, well, it’s just polite. I can afford it.”   
“Oh, I  _ know _ you can, Cap, but I’m the billionaire here.” 

Bucky shot the sorcerer a glance, tilting his head. There was a bit of a thrill in his fiancé being adamant to pay, but this could very easily become a genuine argument. Stephen seemed willing to let this play out a moment longer, giving them the benefit of the doubt.   
“That doesn’t matter,  _ Tony,  _ it’s principle.”    
“Yes, and it’s my… engagement gift.”   
“No.”   
“Yes.” 

“I have just… What does Peter call it again? A ‘galaxy brain’ idea for the two of you. Split the bill.”   
Both went to object.   
“Split. The. Bill.”   
Tony was the first to relent, which was a present surprise for his boyfriend. They sorted it out between them, and halved the tip between them too. As they got up to leave, Tony slipped a fifty down.

It didn’t go unnoticed, Bucky saw and restrained a chuckle as the man gave him a shushing gesture. The group made their way out to their respective cars, with the Wolf stopping them just as they went to get in.   
“I didn’t know how this was gonna go, but,” He fumbled awkwardly through his pockets, before pulling out two envelopes, “If you wanna come to the wedding. We’d love to see you there.”    
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I had to do this fic, as a rabid Stucky shipper with a best friend (starkholmes) who is an IronStrange stan. Credit goes to her for Jarvis the cat, you should check out her fic "What should we name him?" in which Tony and Stephen acquire said cat!


End file.
